Early Days

Me: Cute as hell.

After a rough beginning, the rest of 1966 came and went pretty normally for me. Life during my babyhood consisted mostly of sucking my thumbs, fingers, toes, arm, blanket, and trying to get as much attention and positive feedback as possible.

In 1967, Mum and Dad traveled from Saskatoon to Victoria to visit Mum’s parents. For a trip to Beacon Hill Park, I was dressed in a most patriotic red and white outfit, in keeping with Canada’s Centennial. Mum and Dad seemed to become kids themselves as they took me on the see saw and the swings.

Of course life wasn’t all fun. I guess even babies have certain responsibilities. One of mine was to practise this new thing called walking. My grandparents’ backyard proved to be a perfect place to study, and with a little help from Dad, I was starting to get the hang of it.

My sister Kimberley was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 29th, 1968. Unlike her older brother, Kim was a totally healthy 9 pound baby, and not premature at all. According to Dad, Kim’s feet were as black as coal at birth, probably a circulatory condition. It was definitely temporary – her feet are not like that today. Apparently, I was red as a beet all over when I was born. Go figure.

I know. Super adorable, right?

…so I guess I had to work even harder to get people’s attention.

A true Leo, Kim has always led with her heart, and is extremely genuine in her loves and hates. I tend to be a bit more moderate in many ways than Kim. She wouldn’t have a problem telling someone exactly what she thought of them, whereas I might start investigating my belly button (seen here) to determine the exact cause of the problem. As an adult, Kim would cause at least one truly inspired act of vengeance. This kind of thing was beyond my capabilities. I might describe that incident in detail later on, but it’s entirely inappropriate for this “baby article”…

Anyway, like any only child, I suspect that I enjoyed having the attention spotlight focused exclusively on me for the first two years and four months of my existence. Once my little sister arrived however, the balance of cuteness was irrecoverably changed.

There was a new kid in town.

I know. Cute. So cute.Either she’s a huge baby, or I’m a tiny boy, but I really love this shot.…and again.